I am so grateful for access to skilled surgeons and the amazing body
of knowledge used to successfully perform cesareans. I feel confident
that at least most of the cesareans I have been associated with were
actually necessary, many even life-saving. Yet looking back over my
practice, I can easily pick out scores of women who surely would have
had cesareans had they chosen care elsewhere. With the corresponding
U.S. rate averaging around 23–24 percent during much of my career, each
woman I transferred for surgery would need to drag along seven
companions before we matched the “norm.” I would begrudge those
additional cesareans, despising the lingering pain they caused, feeling
they were unnecessary, needlessly disempowering each of those women,
putting them at risk. While I feel that carefully selected, truly
indicated cesareans are a gift and blessing, general over-reliance on
them has become a bonafide curse.
There is no simple solution, as so many things would have to change before the statistics could reflect only truly unavoidable surgeries. Since correcting those things on a grand scale is beyond my reach, I do what I can at the grassroots level, one woman at a time. Like others in my stead, I’ve challenged the status quo, grown opinionated and passionate about my findings and forged methods I know won’t work for everyone. Still, if even small changes are adopted and bring some improvement, maybe a few, or gradually many more, surgeries could be averted.
There is no simple solution, as so many things would have to change before the statistics could reflect only truly unavoidable surgeries. Since correcting those things on a grand scale is beyond my reach, I do what I can at the grassroots level, one woman at a time. Like others in my stead, I’ve challenged the status quo, grown opinionated and passionate about my findings and forged methods I know won’t work for everyone. Still, if even small changes are adopted and bring some improvement, maybe a few, or gradually many more, surgeries could be averted.
